Through The End And So We Begin
by Part-time Dreamer
Summary: Apocalypse!AU. The world had changed. They have power to change it back. But rescuing the world means putting their life at risk. Which would they save? Who would they die for? Haibara/Conan in Apocalypse World. Part 2/4.
1. Part I

**Title and summary:** see above.

**Rating:** M for blood and gore

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Detective Conan and its characters. And of course I don't own the zombies.

**A/N: **This is Zombie Apocalypse!Future fic, so I'd like to picture Ai and Conan in their teenage age. I know not everyone is into the zombie thing. I don't know what had gotten into me, but I wrote this anyway. Enjoy!

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><p><strong>.<strong>

**Through The End (And So We Begin)**

**Part I**

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**.**

"I think the formula is working."

"Are you serious?"

"This might be our only chance."

A strawberry blonde girl was busy inspecting the test result in her hands. It was bunch of papers worth weeks of work with just 2 hours of sleeping, aspirin, and coffee. Her fingers warily flipped them one by one on the desk while her eyes screened the pages over and over again, almost in disbelief herself. This couldn't be a mistake. She bit her lip.

"We should call Professor."

As soon as she announced that, the boy with glasses nodded and he immediately jumped up the stairs to get the radio ready. When his footsteps slowly disappeared, she quickly grabbed a hundred terabyte memory card out of her drawer and plugged it in. Technically, the small thing could suck up the entire server in the lab, but she couldn't care less. A disc would break easily and hard drive could crash when in shock and her data was not something she would risk to lose right now.

When the green bar of downloading reached the maximum, she unplugged the card hastily and tucked it deep in the back pocket of her jeans. She ran the stairs soon after out of the basement in time.

"There, we're in," Conan handed her the speaker when she was approaching. She took the device and brought it closer to her mouth.

"Professor?" she prompted.

"Conan-kun said you found the formula. Is it true?"

There was an old man's voice on reply. He didn't even bother to comment of how late her call was, for he used to get mad every time she's up past 2 o'clock in the morning. But nothing was like the way they used to be. So she decided to cut the crap and bring him the news.

"Yes. It worked in nine out of ten samples down the lab."

"How many iterations?"

"Three, so far."

"When's the last run?"

"Just now."

There was a pause on the other end and she glanced to Conan on her side. His face was stern as they waited for the response.

"Listen Ai-kun, the military's going to pick up the formula first thing in the morning. It's too risky tonight. Have you made the backup yet?" Professor inquired.

"It's save in my pocket," she told him.

"Okay, good. Good," Professor said. And as the girl was expecting him to hang up, she heard him spoke again. "And, Ai-kun. Please get some sleep. Be safe. It's going to be alright."

The voice sounded concerned and she couldn't deny there's a sudden burning feeling behind her eyes.

"You too, Professor. Don't work too hard," she replied instead and swept her eyes with her sleeve. She didn't know she had missed him that much since Professor had gone away to help the military to fix things up. Things that couldn't be undone anyway.

"Yeah, Ai-kun. I'll try," there's a nervous laughter in the voice which reminded her of how silly he sounded whenever he attempted to lie. She imagined the old man would scratch his head clumsily and smile goofily while he's doing that, and the thought itself made her smile.

The radio call was over and there was silence until Conan spoke up.

"The morning is like, four hours later," he said the obvious while inspecting his wristwatch. Then he turned to her. "Come on. Let's go get you some sleep."

He extended his hand to gesture her coming and she followed suit. Instead of going inside of the bedroom, they walked past it and head to the farthest corner of the wall. Then they went inside a small room which was used to be a bathroom. There's a set of couch, a table, a small fridge, and of course bathtub inside. Since everything started, it has become their new bedroom for some reasons.

Conan locked (or blocked) the door shut as she crept inside the bathtub. Of course the couch would be more comfortable, but she felt more secure in the cold marble. She took her pistol that had been tucked on her back jeans and put it on the table. Then she laid on her side and grabbed a pillow nearby. She tried to close her eyes, readying to sleep.

She heard a sound of metal clicking right after the boy took the couch. Conan must've decided not to sleep.

The girl took her time to look at him, questioning him, though it was harder with the lack of light in the room. The boy, however, seemed to get her signal and shrugged.

"I'll keep on watch. Subaru-san hasn't coming back."

The boy explained and something clicked in her brain. Okiya had gone out to get supplies from outside and he had to go by himself. It couldn't be helped since he was the only adult in this little group. He usually had to make a run to abandoned store to get the job done for few hours. And the fact that he hadn't return was strange because he had left since the morning.

"Hey, don't worry. He's alive," Conan said immediately when she was about to say her thoughts. "He sent his signal like two hours ago. Maybe he just had to wait till the morning to come back. It's better that way."

The signal was actually a new way to communicate since none of the cell phone works. Or internet, for that mattered. So they had to be creative and Detective Boy's badges seemed like a good idea. They'd have to send beep signal (because talking would consume too much battery) to tell others when they're save. So far it had worked wonders to keep them stick together.

So she said nothing anymore and tried for the second time to sleep. She knew it's hardly possible for her to drift off easily, but Professor's words from earlier kept on playing inside her head.

_It's going to be alright. _

It's going to be alright as the new formula worked and soon this nightmare was going to be over. Soon things would be back to the way it used to be and they don't have to live hiding from the world anymore. She's made it so far anyway.

Well, so far.

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><p>The next time she's conscious, the sun blared through the wooden planks on the window, making the room lit and her eyes squinted. Conan was nowhere inside and the door was wide open. She's instantly on her guard as she grabbed her pistol in steady grip and walked outside. She found Conan in the TV room.<p>

"So you can't get here? Not even in a hundred meters radius? Are you even telling me that you're the military?"

He sounded angry to whomever on the radio with him. It couldn't be anything good.

"Well break the blockage, or turn around and find another way. Or send a helicopter. I don't know. We're talking about a cure that could save the whole world, for God's sake!"

He kept on snapping to the speaker like he's bursting out his patience right now. She had tucked her pistol and approached him. Soon the girl was near and they locked gaze for a second. The military was still talking through his ear.

"And what, you expect us to come and deliver it to you? You're joking me."

He broke the eye contact and looked furious again. Now she had caught up to the conversation and understood what it was about. The thought of them going out to the road had made her gut stirred.

"Well, good. Send them here. Send the whole platoon if you have to, I don't care. You better bring your best guy or I don't think it'll gonna end well. You copy?"

He slammed the radio button with his fist when he's done. The strawberry blonde girl had been staring at him and once again, blue orbs met each others. He regulated his breath and sighed.

"Military will be here in the afternoon. The APC got blocked. They'll get here on foot," he shared her an explanation, though she already picked that much. "Stupid."

"Maybe they don't have many options, Kudo-kun. We'll just have to wait," she argued.

"We'll be fine. I'm worrying about _them_," he said, furrowing. "They don't know what's waiting on them in open road. The undead don't get asleep in the bright light."

Though he might be worrying too much about the professionals, he had a point. Being in open road was like suicide, unless you're invisible or something. We'd never know what's behind what. Especially when there's a horde of…

Shit. Stop thinking about hordes or she'd be going to lose her appetite for breakfast.

The girl pushed the thought away and decided to distract herself. She walked to the nearby window, which wasn't exactly a window anymore since there're more planks blocking instead of solid glass. She slowly peeped at the small gap in there and winced.

"It's so quiet out there," she thought out loud. Conan was already beside her and did the same.

"It's _too_ quiet. It's been like this since the last two days," he muttered. "Come on, I made you sandwich."

She wanted to ask more, actually. She felt she had missed so much of the development since she's working down in the basement. But Conan had already given him the breakfast and she decided to cut the chatter. The news could wait. Now they'd just have to stay until the military picked the cure up and heal the world.

"I'm gonna check the barricades," Conan suddenly said and turned on his back. "You stay here."

"Whoa, what?" she nearly choked the damned sandwich. That boy had bad habit of deciding everything over her alone. She wasn't that weak, she wanted to tell. She could work. "I'll come with you."

"It's too dangerous outside."

"I'll watch your back, moron, so you won't get eaten and we're all die."

Conan winced at the thought and he mumbled irritably. "Good point."

The headed to the living room where a small gap was made at the door frame. It's the only way they could get in or out from the building. They made it just enough for them to crawl through. Zombies couldn't crawl.

They made it to the outside. Conan instantly held his submachine gun and aimed around. There's nothing around, though. He lowered his arm.

"Let's be quick. Pistol's ready."

She rolled her eyes. Of course she had the pistol on her grip right now. Her eyes and body were on full alert as she stood beside Conan. The boy was inspecting their first barricade. There're three more.

"This one's fine. Let's move."

He tapped her shoulder and they moved to the left side of the building. There's the second barricade there made of metal pieces and sharp iron bars. Few dead bodies scattered around the defense. No questions of the amount of blood on the surfaces.

"Gross," she couldn't help to voice her mind out. The sight was more unpleasant when exposed under the sunlight. Thank God they didn't stink anymore.

"It's perfectly fine," he didn't even bother to inspect, but the spot seemed pretty solid. "Come on."

They turned around the building to get to the third barricade in the back of the house. It's mostly wooden planks because it's the narrowest access to get inside. There're none breaking, though. And when they're on the fourth stop, the girl detected something.

"Shh. Did you hear that?" she hushed and lifted her arm on position.

Conan dropped his tools and grabbed his weapon, instantly on guard also. They both fell silent in a moment, trying to capture the noise before. It seemed to be a false alarm, before another sound of coughing was heard. Coughing? Really?

When they both couldn't guess what the sound was, the girl was being pulled back really, _really_ fast. She was just standing there beside Conan, but a second later, she was almost meters away from him. And this _thing_ had wrapped her really tight in the chest. She couldn't move her arms.

"Haibara! Shit!"

Conan moved as fast, though. He was shooting at something behind her. Then she felt her chest loose. She got up on her feet and let go of the slick… tentacle that had gotten her earlier. It wasn't really like anything else she had ever seen before.

"Haibara, you're okay?" Conan said hurriedly. He sounded concerned.

"I'm fine," she said. "What the hell was _that_?"

"I don't know. We should get in. I hear sounds coming."

The sounds he meant were actually howling voices from the distance. Zombies were soulless creatures which were only attracted to living being and loud noises. Conan's gun had broken the silence that had built up all along. It's only natural that it lured bunch of lurking undead in the neighborhood.

"Quick! Inside!"

Haibara didn't need to be told twice. She crawled her way inside and made way till the boy was through. They pulled nearby iron plank to hold the gap. They sprinted to the TV room soon after.

"Grab the backpack! I'll get the radio— what _the_…"

Haibara reacted on time and shot the creature right between its eyes. The thing was dead and slumped on his feet.

"Careful now!" she snapped. "I've got the backpack. Let's go!"

Though seemed pretty startled, he wasted no time and belt up the radio on his shoulder. He made comment between his efforts. "How did _it_ get in?"

"I don't know," she said, trying not to sound desperate. How the hell should she know? They've been checking the barricades and none had been broken. But looked like the undead had found the way in from God knew where. "There's so many of them outside. Do you think they could hold?"

"Maybe we should set the fire."

It was the only sensible plan right now, since they're just two teenagers who couldn't lift anything heavier than Conan's submachine gun. If Subaru-san had been there, he surely would handle the crowd with few barrels of his semi-auto shotgun.

"Upstairs," he ordered, and she obeyed.

They both didn't find any more zombies inside as they reached the second floor. Good. The girl located the gasoline can and Conan crouched in the balcony. He was aiming his weapon on the ground. His face showed that whatever the scenery couldn't be anything good.

She tried not to scream anything when she hit the balcony too. She had seen hordes of zombies before, but it never failed to terrify her whenever they're coming. The creatures were roaring and striking anything on the way. Their nails were like claws when they're on their prey. Their mouth never stopped puking their stinking guts out.

"Throw it!" he snapped. The girl did so quickly and let go of the gas can to the middle of the crowd. "Watch out!"

And the gas can exploded when the bullets hit the liquid, making the horde ran from the barricades in fire. The zombies scattered away and for a moment she felt a bit of relief.

"More," he said, and she questioning him with her look. "The explosion could've attracted more of them. Get more gas can and we'll make fire barricades in the front yard."

The idea of more of the walking dead coming was never a pleasant feeling, so she turned her back nonetheless and got more of the cans. After Conan's order, she threw some of them near the gates, where Conan shot them bullseye and the fire started. It was just in time before they saw hundreds of impatient zombies running out the street.

"They're coming," she said, as a matter of factly.

"Come on! To the bathroom!"

He jumped off the stairs hastily while grabbing her arm. They could hear loud roaring on the street, but they didn't seem to come any closer. Conan got to the bathroom first, encouraging her to be faster. She made it eventually, and he blocked the door tight with the metal bars.

She panted as if she'd just finished a hundred miles marathon and threw herself on the couch.

"The fire should keep them away," he swallowed his own breath and collapsed beside her. "Send Subaru-san an alert."

The girl put the pistol beside her and winced. It'd been a long time since she last held a pistol like that. Firm and tight. She moved her burning fingers and goddamnit did it hurt.

Anyway, she pulled the Detective Boys' badge and sent Subaru-san the SOS morse code.

"Now what," she said in between her breaths.

"We'll wait for the military. And hoped the zombies couldn't find us here," he reloaded his machine gun and cocked it. "God, it's not even in the evening yet. We lose the barricade, we're screwed."

Okay, wait there and pray seemed like a lot easier thing to do. Surely she needed a break from the sudden zombie party in the front yard. And she was sure as hell didn't want to get strangled from the back by slobbery tentacle again.

Oh God since she remembered it, what the hell was the tentacle thing?

"Something's happening on them, Kudo-kun," she said, suddenly felt the urge to spit her mind out. "They seemed to have been…mutating."

"Ew, it sounded bad," he made a disgusted face and winced. But she continued.

"I mean, it could be. They started as ordinary flu and then changed so fast. Maybe mutation is the natural way for the virus to survive."

"Whatever happened to them, Haibara," he cut her wandering mind and her scary theory. "We're going to end it with the cure you created. And we'll do it today."

The girl lowered her gaze for a moment. However cocky the boy could be, he had quality of seeing things in good perspective, something she clearly lacked of. Well, sometimes. But mostly he's the one who kept her on track when she nearly hit herself with the wrong train.

She bit her lip. However bad the situation they're in, it's always better to think up ahead, right? What if the zombies were actually mutating? And what if they couldn't survive the day?

She shuffled the backpack she had been holding and took a bottle of medication. The boy saw her in confusion as she handed him one of the green capsule. He raised an eyebrow at her and took it.

"What's this?"

"It's the prototype of the current successful cure. We'll never know how many zombies we're going to face till the rest of the day."

"Has it been tested to human beings?"

"Just about to. We're our first volunteers."

"You're kidding, right?" he chuckled nervously, but she didn't flinch an inch. He frowned. "You're serious."

She rolled her eyes and took a capsule instead. With one quick prayer she swallowed it hard and they both waited for something to happen. Her heart started pounding, anticipating some changes in her body. But as she predicted, none had happened.

He followed her example and gulped down the prototype. The girl couldn't help sigh in relief. At least they're prepared.

"Is there any response?" he asked.

She checked her badge, but Subaru-san hadn't sending her any feedback.

"No," she said. "Not yet."

"Damn it."

He looked frustrated for a while, but then there's a loud banging on the metal door. They both paralyzed at first, deciding whether they should open it. But a second later the banging went more intense. And brutal. And there was a rasping breath joined the racket.

"Shit, they're here," Conan brought his arms on guard, aiming to the door. The girl reloaded her pistol in one smooth, trained routine. She was soon ready beside him.

The banging was going insane now. One of the metal screws went loose of too much pressure. The metal bars were rocking as the door being forced open in to no avail.

Their hands were ready to pull the trigger now. They hold their breath so that it didn't go as rapid as their heartbeats.

But there was a loud bang behind the door once, and the banging stopped. Faint running noises followed and there went the second loud bang.

It was definitely shotgun. And a shotgun meant there was somebody on their side was behind the door. Conan unblocked the metal bars and the door swung open.

"Subaru-san!" he hissed, not wanting to attract anymore undead creatures to come. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Long story, Conan-kun. I'm glad you're okay. You too, Ai-chan," he greeted her, however unnecessary that was. "But we can't stay here anymore. We need to move. Now."

Okiya was already walking on the corridor, out of the bathroom. Conan and Haibara followed immediately, with feet cautiously avoid the scattered brains on the floor. She was lucky she didn't have too much breakfast earlier, or she'd spill her stomach for sure.

"How did you get in?" Conan voiced his question when they're past the TV room. Haibara still could hear the loud shrieking from the front side of the building. Most of the creatures were still outside. The fire hadn't seemed to stop.

"The back door. I had to break in. And that's our way out."

No discussions went after that. The full stories could wait.

"There. Climb that ladder," Okiya pointed to the ladder attached to the wall behind the building. It's the access for them to get past the next block. If they're lucky, they could get out of the riots and find saver place. If there's any. "You first, Conan-kun."

Conan tucked the submachine gun in his belt and started to go up. Haibara was the next as Okiya needed to watch their backs. Once the three were at the end of the ladder, Okiya instructed them to climb down at the opposite side of the walls so they're basically separated from the chaos behind them.

Once Okiya's feet hit the ground, he gave them the direction and they rushed to the street. It's desolate, and the abandoned houses just made the day creepier. Even the sun was hiding behind the cloud now.

They've been running for minutes now when Okiya finally found their rest stop.

"Inside," he pointed to one abandoned building. "Go."

The teenagers run with the remaining strength inside and Okiya pushed the door shut. Haibara felt her body got heavier and she leaned herself on the wall. Her hands still gripping on her pistol like glue. Conan was lying flat on his back, his breath racing, and the radio already fell off his shoulder. Okiya shot one last look to the street before sitting down.

Giving time to both men to recover, the girl put down her backpack and tucked her pistol in its place. They're in tiny room with a stack of boxes and few gas cans. There's an oil lamp on the corner of the room, and there's a small bathroom behind the second ajar door.

This place was meant to be a pretty solid shelter from the outside world.

"Did you make this place?" she asked nonchalantly as she opened the farthest wooden cabinet in the room. There're stacks of food that could keep them alive for days. Someone must've prepared all of this.

"Yes. I found this room a week ago, when I was searching for supplies," the man said, regaining his breath. "From then on I started putting stuff here. We couldn't stay in the old house forever. They'll break through eventually."

"Nice thinking. I was almost hit by one of them earlier. I didn't know where they came in from," Conan commented from his spot on the floor.

"How was research?" Okiya asked instead, suddenly in realization that they had just left the lab for the zombies. She hoped they're not smart enough to locate the entrance to the basement.

"It's save. I made backup," she assured him, but Conan filled her in. As if she'd forgotten to tell the most important fact.

"She found the cure. We called Professor last night and the military was supposed to pick the damn thing up."

Okiya was struck by the big development. He looked doubtful at first, then relief, and then he turned all serious on his face. "When?"

"This afternoon. We were waiting for them, but the hordes had gotten to us first."

Okiya glanced at the girl briefly, then his brows furrowed. He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Aren't we supposed to tell them _not _to come to the house?"

"You know, I was _just_ about to do that," the boy grumbled, immediately sat up, and took hold of the radio to get the right frequency. Once the connection was made, he spat up. "Hello, this is team Conan speaking."

Haibara rolled her eyes at once. She was sure Okiya did the same.

"Change of plan. New pick up location. Pull your men back, and direct them to the north. Yes, zombie overrun," he rattled on, impatient. "Stop by Beika Hospital. I'll tell further instruction when you're near. Copy?"

The boy switched off the radio once he's done. His expression was hard and tense. Well, everyone else's was too.

"Now what," she voiced up, low.

"Now we'll wait."

And so they waited.

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**To be continued**

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><p><strong>Okay, I'll be working on part II. But it'll be great to hear from you guys! Please tell me anything that comes to your mind while reading this: confusions, OOC-ness, predictions, opinions, or any even wtf? feelings. Hope I'll see you soon *gives hug*<strong>

**Also, I kind of had ripped-off the zombie(s) from one of the best zombie game ever invented. Bonus point if anyone knows where's it from. The answer is in the end of part II.  
><strong>


	2. Part II

**Title and summary:** see above.

**Rating:** M for blood and gore and some language.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Detective Conan and I don't own the zombies.

**A/N:** Here comes the late update of zombie-fic Haibara/Conan. For you guys who haven't had interest in apocalypse world, it won't hurt to start. I recommend anyone to check out the youtube link down this page to an opening of the zombie survival game I'm recently playing. It's also the inspiration behind this story, which, I'm sorry to announce, is not Resident Evil. The "tentacley" zombie I described in part I has its own characteristic which differs him from the one in RE, but I realize it's partly my fault for not giving enough details.

Anyway, enjoy! :D

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><p><strong>.<strong>

**Through The End (And So We Begin)**

**Part II**

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A teenage boy with glasses was behind the barred door, his eyes didn't seem to get tired eyeing the street like hawk through the latticework. Near him, an older man sat up by the wall, unpacking his backpack and emptied it with no words. And then, on the corner, a strawberry blonde girl was sitting quietly, trying to make decision whether she'd help sorting the supplies or snap at the boy to relax.

Well, the boy could wait till he cooled down his head first.

She decided to take care of herself instead. She felt her palms were aching. Probably because she hadn't used her gun that intensely before. A girl in her age was never supposed to hold a gun anyway. Good thing she had learnt how to shoot sometime in the past, but she winced. Her past was nothing compared to this world they're living now where there're only two choices in life: to survive or to die in the most unpleasant way possible. She shook her head, trying to push the thought away and quickly made her way to the bathroom.

There was a sink by the wall and the faucet was working too. Thank God there's still some place where the water's still available. Even the towels were neatly folded in the bathroom cabinet nearby. She grabbed one on the top stack and started to take care of her palms before they turned numb.

Once she'd done, she's back at the room and found that Okiya was still piling the foods on the floor. The girl instantly looked for her backpack and reached something from it. She handed the man in front of him the capsule.

"Subaru-san, drink this," she said. "It's the cure prototype."

Okiya only responded with the kind of uncertain look. "But I haven't been bitten."

"No, just as safety precaution. Conan-kun and I already had it," she explained, then she moved closer to him to see what kind of foodstuff he'd managed to get. "Uhm, peanut butter. Did you get blueberry jam as well?"

"Of course," he smiled before drinking down his medicine. "But better not to waste them. If we run out, I'm afraid we have to move away and get to the other safer places with better supplies."

"Whoa, you mean we'll have to move _again_?" the boy spoke.

"Yes. It's only a matter of time till we have to move anyway. I didn't expect this disaster would occur this long," Okiya said the last part rather mournfully.

"So we can't go back to Professor's house?" Haibara asked. If there was still remained any building to be properly called a home for her, that place was definitely it.

Okiya studied her for a moment and shrugged. "Perhaps someday. But not now. Until the circumstances get better, we'd have to move from places to places to get food. And ammo. The supplies in this joint are running low."

Conan was frowning right now. He sure wasn't satisfied with the decision, but they couldn't deny the truth in Okiya's words. They had been collecting the supplies from the neighborhood for three weeks to feed their stomach. Soon some would expire and they had to find another food elsewhere if they still wanted to be alive.

"We don't have any choice, huh?" Conan mumbled in defeat. Then he silently cursed. Okiya didn't have anything to add to that, so he was back to the food. Haibara felt the need to drift the conversation away now, or else she'd die from the building tension.

"Ne, Conan-kun," she started.

"What?" he said.

"Sit down. There's nothing to watch outside."

"I don't feel like sitting down," he retorted.

"You're making me depressed," she pointed out. Conan was looking at her right now, somewhat calmer. She sighed. She went to the bathroom for a moment and came back with a wet towel. "Come here. Let me see your hands."

Conan examined his palm briefly, as if he hadn't paid much attention until she mentioned it. But she'd known better. Conan was kind of person who kept things by himself and thought he's strong enough to hold up all of the burden. He's the hero type that would die voluntarily in the movie to sacrifice himself if he had to. In this zombie apocalypse world, it wouldn't help anybody.

"Use this," she ordered and handed him the towel when he's on the floor too. He took it somberly and began to work on his hands.

"Thanks," he said while rubbing the cloth into his parched skin to wash up the mess, the dirt and… the blood?

"You're bleeding?" she said a little bit surprised when she noticed the red taint on the white towel.

"It's just a scratch," he murmured. "It'll dry out."

"Geez," she said, exasperated. "Subaru-san, do we have a first aid kit here?"

Okiya silently placed the red box with a large white plus sign close enough for her to reach. She wasted no time to grab the package and unsealed it open.

"I'm fine," Conan was protesting but she wouldn't fall for his excuse right now.

"Give me your hand," she demanded, and when he didn't show any intention to comply, she was more than ready to insist. "_Now_."

Conan gave in by then and brought his right hand to the girl. She found the 'scratch' afterward which was apparently a five centimeters wide cut on his upper palm. It must've been because of the submachine gun. She proficiently dripped the antiseptic to a cotton ball and began to clean the wound. Conan had to try his best not to show how much it hurt, but he managed to speak anyway.

"Seriously, Haibara," he said again, softer this time. "It's fine."

"Stop saying you're fine. Are you so eager to get infected or something?" she shot back, but in no higher tone.

He kept his mouth shut and she sighed inwardly. It's better not to lose a temper now. She had to keep her mind clear or else she would end up making the cut worse.

"It's not deep. A bandage will be enough," she informed him instead and found the white material in the kit. She carefully unrolled the thing with one hand because the other one was firmly holding Conan's injured palm in place. "Don't move."

Conan didn't say anything and stayed still. That's a good thing so she could finish it as fast as possible and get away from under his stare. It's getting uncomfortable.

"Um, I'm going to scan through the radio to see if there's any news," Okiya announced as he get up and get the big radio from the floor. "See if the government has statement or something."

That's actually a good idea if the channels weren't filled with the same recordings from weeks. No station seemed to be active, except from the military post to give latest developments to the survivors out there. But it only contained looped messages for quite some times.

Okiya turned up the device and the static noise filled the room. At least they had something to listen to for a while. It would make her work on his hand much easier.

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><p>By nightfall, they had to hold the urge to start panicking. The time when the military told them the vehicle got blocked ended up in a zombie mess in their front yard. This time, the military showing up late had led them to more uncertainties they had to deal in a day. Even worse, the damned radio decided to be useless in the wrong place and in the wrong time.<p>

"The battery's dead," said Okiya when they were sitting silently in the room that afternoon. The both teenagers could only stare at the older man for seconds.

"Well, couldn't we just replace it with a new one?" Conan asked.

"We don't have spares."

"Say what?"

Okiya sighed, frustrated. "We might find another battery outside, somewhere in the buildings. Or in one of the cars, maybe."

"Are you suggesting us to look for it _now_?" the girl spoke up. "It's getting dark."

Okiya couldn't respond. Going outside in the night just to find a stupid battery was a stupid plan. And she didn't mean to be pessimistic, to be honest. If they talked about the chance they might have of finding a new battery, she could say that it wasn't enough to force them out of this safe room to attempt possible suicide.

"Can't we wait till tomorrow to do the searching?" Conan suggested. "I mean, Haibara's right. Maybe we'll have better luck in the day."

"No. No, we can't wait," the man insisted, suddenly looked more thoughtful. "The military team is out there now, looking for us. This radio is the only thing that could tell them we're still here. And alive. But if we can't be reached, I'm afraid they won't think we're worth their rescue mission."

"That is ridiculous," Conan objected at the implication. "Millitary can't just leave us here, Subaru-san. We _have_ the cure."

"But they don't _know_ it. We can't even inform them our whereabouts."

Conan didn't say anything anymore. He couldn't. And she recognized it every time when he didn't like how the situation turned out. There they were, stranded from home, ill-equipped, and only a wall away from a total mess of apocalypse. Their radio was dead, hence it was also pointless that they had the cure. By God's sake, they _had_ the cure…

"We have to go out there, don't we?"

The two men shot the same look at her, either because how sad it actually sounded or how obviously crazy the idea was. Conan turned his head down and muttered something a second later.

"I could go," Okiya said, suddenly. "I didn't say that we all have to."

"Don't be silly, Subaru-san. We won't let you go out there alone."

"I've been alone out there and I'm perfectly fine."

"Yeah, in the daylight," he chuckled.

"But someone just has to do it."

"Okay, stop it, both of you," Haibara spoke loud enough for the men to shut up. "We will all go, or we're not going at all."

"Ai-chan, I don't think that's—"

"Subaru-san," she cut him off. "Please. If anything, going together will increase our chance of survival. And of course I understand that we're not supposed to be in this situation, but just because Conan-kun and I are not old enough doesn't mean that we can't hold our gun and fight."

Okiya sighed, defeated, but he surprisingly didn't argue. Conan was staring again, she wasn't aware for how long. She dared herself to look at his eyes also for a few strange moment.

"We're going outside," Haibara said again, tried her best not to shudder, but the certainty in her tone was evident. "We'll get the battery, or radio, or any means of communication we can find. But we also have to leave a message to the military, in case if they're coming by to this place."

"A message," Okiya repeated, then he continued. "There's some stock of wall paint outside this building. We can write the message on the wall, saying we're still alive and mobile to signal the military to keep looking for us."

Without further approval, Okiya very cautiously stepped outside the room, his shotgun ready, to locate the paint and left the two teenagers alone.

"Are you sure about this?" Conan asked her, inspected her closely and more privately as if questioning for her own sake. She only stared at his somewhat concerned look.

"Professor said to me earlier that it's going to be alright. Do you believe that, Kudo-kun?"

He responded rather slowly, but he said, "Yes."

"Then we're going to be alright."

She gave him one last look before grabbing her backpack near her and started to sort few things that might come in handy in their search mission. Okiya already handled the food in his bag, so she'd bother with their medical pack, few reserve ammo, flashlights, and of course the bottle of the cure. When Okiya got back, he wordlessly started to stain the wall red with a piece of cloth he used as a paintbrush. Then, he also painted the whole door with the same color that anyone nearby would catch a glimpse of the attractiveness. Lastly, he took up the radio, belted it behind his back, and pumped his shotty.

"You're in charge of the food, Conan-kun," he said, and the boy reluctantly strapped the food bag with his free hand. "We're ready?"

"Okay."

"Yes."

Then the oldest man led the group of three, raising his gun to every corner before giving the signal to move on. Haibara flickered the flashlight on her pistol and clutched it tightly forward, eyes screening everywhere for the sign of the zombies. Conan was the last person leaving the room, and his face showed her that he was not happy by the slightest bit.

She shook her head and tried to worry about something else now. Okiya was already on the road and she followed. When she threw one last glance to the building, she noticed that Okiya had made another message in the opposite wall. It was a symbol of a house with a cross inside, all was made in ominous red.

It's a symbol of the safehouse.

* * *

><p>Holding up for three weeks after the outbreak was one thing. Walking in the first three minutes on the open road was another thing entirely.<p>

Being in super cautious mode, Haibara could finally see for real what the world had turned out like. The city she used to know so well had transformed into an eerie place. The streets that used to be decorated by joyful lights in the night now looked a lot more like a haunted alleys people would see on horror movies. Trashes and shredded safety posters were everywhere, floating about as the wind breezes by. A foul wind, she noted, because it also carried around the unnatural stench of the undead. Good thing the virus wasn't airborne.

The sun was fully set and it left bloody stains on the clouds amongst the darken sky.

They gained distance by each step very, very carefully. As if they didn't want to make any smallest sound to mark their presence. Even she had to make sure her breathing didn't sound. All they heard was a rustling wind on the trees and the falling leaves that left a cold twinge in her chest. Haibara tightened her already solid grip on her P226 when Okiya on the front line stopped.

"Five or so zombies up front," he said. "Best to clean them while we're out of their reach."

"I'll do it," she volunteered, just because she happened to have the best long range weapon than the other two at the moment. She stepped forward and crouched for better aim. Her usually steady hands were shaking.

"Just breathe," she heard Okiya promptly calmed her. "They're just brainless creatures who wandered too long in the world of living. They're not human anymore."

Haibara shot the first round piercing through one zombie's head.

"Bullseye," even Conan commented from behind. She smirked.

The first pack of zombies was successfully wiped out. No need to risk more trouble when they had nothing but bullets to defend themselves. The line of formation continued and their position was increasingly improved as the time went. More importantly, they started to feel the hang of working together as a team in their little search expedition.

For now, none of them were scratched. And Conan, probably becoming too bored of the _be-quiet-or-you-die_ rule, decided to ease the tension.

"Have you ever gone this far, Subaru-san?" he asked, eyes guarding Haibara's back. There were four wandering zombies less than ten meters ahead of them and she's on full concentration on aiming at their skulls.

"No. I usually went south. Never beyond Teimuzu River, though. There's a barricade on the bridge."

"Ah, the military's vehicle is also blocked. They're on foot," Conan mumbled. "Great, huh."

Okiya only casted him a look, either because he was unimpressed with the matter or just too uncomfortable with conversation now. It was both, probably, because they went silent after that and refocusing on the road. The first interception was only few meters away now, but it seemed like distance didn't matter anymore. The most important thing was to get there unharmed, no matter how long it took.

Haibara was on her knee when she reached the corner and inspected the alley for any of the walking dead. Conan was aiming way to the farthest street, while Okiya was steady watching the rear. Much to her relief, there was nothing.

"Clear," she informed, loosen up a little bit. "Which way now?"

Both Conan and Okiya didn't answer right away, but they all knew who had more authority to make a decision.

"If we want to find a radio, our best bet is to head to Beika Station," Okiya said. "I heard the officers are holding up a safe zone in the building for survivors. I'm sure they also have equipments to communicate with the outside."

The girl winced as he used the term 'outside' because he made it sound like he was talking about an totally different world. Well, after three weeks of fortification in this city without any contact beside constant radio call to Professor and military, they were pretty much blind of the circumstances other than their own. Nobody knew for sure how bad the virus had struck the nation, or how far it had invaded the rest of the world. She had lived by the confidence that as long as there were still living beings among themselves, the human race wasn't falling yet.

"But it's too far," she heard Conan disliking the idea. "Can't we look for radio around this part? If we search carefully in the houses, we might get lucky."

"Exploring the houses would take forever. Receiver-transmitter is too unusual to be found in this area," the older man said. "Except in the police cruisers, maybe. Few of them passed by our house few times during the first week, but I haven't seen any of them anywhere until now."

The police, like any other people, could also get bit and transformed. It's no wonder if they stopped patrolling around at some point and leave the duty to the military. Or worse, there were actually zombies with police uniforms or armored suit, which Haibara wouldn't want to bump into in this dire situation.

"What about the hospital? The police used to have a quarantine zone in there, right?" she chimed in.

"That was my first thought too. But after it's been declared overrun, I suggest we keep away from crowded area. The hospital, above all. It's directly in front of Beika department store, and we won't have anywhere else to cover if the hordes strike from both sides."

The mention of the hordes just reminded Haibara that they hadn't got swarmed by any horde since they left Professor's house. She doubted that it's a good sign.

"Well, we can't just stay here," she urged. "The military won't wait forever."

"I might know some place where we can find it. Mouri Detective Agency is only a block away. I say we should head there."

It was Conan who spoke up, and Haibara understood the poor choice he was implying. Sure, Mouri Kogoro was a police once, therefore he could be their best candidate of finding such rare thing. But Haibara had a bad vibe in visiting people they used to know because reality didn't offer that much guarantee whether… Well… Whether they would still be the person they knew or had become _something _else.

"It's better than the hospital," Okiya decided, and gripped the shotgun steady on. "The street ahead seems empty. On the count of three. Ready?"

The other two only made a sound of affirmation and Okiya hissed the mark. When they're on their feet again she failed to focus because she felt there's something that needed to be cleared up.

"Hey," she called him, not loud enough for anyone but their group to hear. "Don't get your hopes up."

Conan only glanced for a moment before returning to aim at the street. He knew she wasn't talking about the radio.

"We have the cure, right?" he asked instead.

"Which only works before transformation state," she reminded him. Conan only gave nothing in response. Her voice rose a bit when she called him again. "Conan-kun."

"I know, I know. Don't worry, I won't cry or anything," he said, not a little more assuring, and she sighed. Well, she'd tried. They came to a halt when they're at the corner again. Conan then volunteered to check on the alley for them as he signaled her to stay still. His serious face then changed after he let out a relieved "_clear_" out of his throat.

They waited for Okiya's words to send them rushing if they needed to. The detective agency was only three houses away from where they're standing.

But before they could hear his voice, there's a faint sound of engine coming from the sky approaching them. As if by reflex, the group was on alert immediately while trying to locate the sound which was coming from behind. It wasn't that hard to spot it though, because it apparently glared an intense bright searchlight down the street. The distinct noise of the rotor blades clearly informed them that it was a helicopter.

The first helicopter they ever encountered in the city.

The second before the light reached their heads, Okiya ordered them to stay low with his free hand because talking was pointless now. Haibara tried her best to just keep on breathing. The helicopter flew passed them not long after, still sweeping and hovering on its way.

"What in the world…" Conan wondered out loud when the other two were too speechless.

"_Shh_," Okiya lift up his fist, telling them to freeze, before pointing to his ear to signal them to _listen_. So they did. And as soon as the upcoming rackets became clear in her head, her heart started pounding wild in her chest.

The helicopter had attracted a horde. A _massive _horde. And they're coming right at them.

"Hurry! To the agency!" Okiya said urgently before they could make out any sight of the running zombies, or rather, before the zombies could make out any sight of them.

The teenagers hauled ass without question to the building. Okiya was no doubt guarding tight behind them as he's backpedalling in rush. But it's too late, though.

When the nearest zombies caught the scent of living being, they immediately made a turn to charge at the three. Then, the distracted zombies in the horde would imitate the action and soon they're going to swarm mercilessly until they got the taste of human brains. The image of them feasting with _her_ brain flashed in Haibara's mind as she groggily kept the pistol in her hands.

Conan was already up the stairs of the building and he was slamming the door. "HEY, open UP!" he yelled to the door. "Anyone inside?" he added furiously when there was no feedback.

Haibara and Okiya were still down below, guarding their ground. The latter commanded them to open fire at once.

She lifted her arms and shot. Zombies' heads weren't that hard to spot during the night for their dead eyes glowed like _tapetum lucidum_ in the dark.

"Pick off as many as you can," Okiya told her between the whizzing sounds of the bullets. "I'll get anything that comes near us."

Haibara only nodded and fifteen rounds of the pistol were quickly wasted in a matter of seconds. Her free hand was working to get a magazine somewhere on the side of her bag.

"Reloading!" she alarmed her companions while trying to get the magz _inside the grip goddamnit!_

Okiya, much to her gratitude, was calmly and professionally crowning the zombies with his unforgiving pellets. The poor creatures' flesh were scattered on the rough asphalt. Their headless bodies went limp before they could touch them with their claws.

"Easy, it'll go in," he told her while pumping and blasting at the crowds once more. Haibara was struggling to press the slide release. She was shooting the bullets again soon after, giving time for Okiya to load his tube.

"What now, they keep on coming!" she demanded. While the majority of the giant horde was sprinting wild on pursue of the long lost helicopter, a quite dangerous number of the parade was still attracted by their scent instead.

"Back off. _Now_," the older man ordered, which she gladly obeyed. Before she knew it, she ran out of bullets again.

"Reloading here!" she yelped, desperately reaching for another magazine. She heard Okiya's loud weapon was protecting them both.

"Ah, sh…" Okiya cursed under his breath when a zombie suddenly got too close to them when he was pumping a shell out. It was snarling and charging and its teeth were chattering in anticipation of a fresh human taste.

The head exploded.

"Hang on there! Just a little bit more!" Conan shouted from the second floor of the agency, seemingly still unable to open the door. He was low on his knee, hands on his SMG, providing a cover from his advantageous position. The hollering sound of the main horde slowly faded out in the background. Okiya was back on the action once he regained control, and she was scoring head-shots with much higher determination.

They could do this.

The final zombie was rewarded by a punch from the butt of Okiya's shotgun. The damn creature was wobbling away from the hit when the triggered is pulled, destroying most part of the thing's upper body. Okiya cursed blatantly from where he stood.

"Damn the zombies and their running legs."

Haibara chuckled to agree with Okiya's statement. She couldn't help it. Their little team had just escaped being eaten alive.

"They're not really smart, though," she remarked. "I can't imagine if the zombies can run _and_ think at the same time. Which reminds me…"

She stopped on track and he asked. "What?"

"Subaru-san, have you ever seen different kind of zombie? I think there's a possibility that they're mutating."

"…No," Okiya slowly said. "Like what?"

"Conan-kun and I encountered it once, when we're at Professor's house," she explained, feeling a bit apologetic because she had forgotten to mention it earlier. "It appears to have grown some sort of slimy tentacle. Or something."

The man's face turned grim. "Never seen it before. But we'll keep an eye of them. I hope they don't change to something bulletproof."

"No, the bullet can still work, it seems. Conan-kun was able to save me when it got—"

BANG, BANG, BANG! There's a sudden loud banging behind them, sending both instantly to their edges again as they reached their weapon for dear life.

The sound was coming from an abandoned ambulance van few meters away from them. Whatever the _thing_ that caused it apparently had hit one of the windows with solid object from inside.

A muffled "_Help!_" was heard between the vain attempts to break out. Haibara froze.

"Someone is alive," Okiya said, rather disbelievingly. Conan, who was only few meters away from where she was, also seemed to be intrigued by the incident and was already rushing to get himself involve.

"Shouldn't we check it?" the boy suggested when he was near.

The leader gestured them to get moving. Haibara didn't question him and followed. Her finger was dangerously close to pull the trigger if anything went wrong.

"Help!" they heard it again, and Okiya clicked a flashlight on to inspect the tinted rear window.

"Shit," Okiya said as he caught a glimpse of a living human inside. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of there," he added before holstering his gun behind his back. When he was about to reach out, however, his brows knitted. Pretty wide side of the door was smashed by sharp pointy metal, leaving severe reddish scars (blood?) on the surface that seemed to have damaged the door lock. The stranger must have been trapped.

"What do you think had caused _this_?" Conan muttered in low tone, but he clearly addressed the question to her. Haibara kept her mouth shut. Whatever the thing that caused this must have been not an ordinary zombie. Meantime, Okiya was instructing the poor guy to get to the farthest corner of the van.

"Get back," he ordered the two and they took few steps back. They watched warily as Okiya pointed the muzzle of his shot-gun to the latch.

After the bullet was shot and the door was scattered, it could be easily swayed open and the guy dramatically sprung out to embrace his savior. Okiya couldn't avoid it in time.

"Hueee, thank you for saving me I've been there in three hours I thought I'd never get ouuut!" he babbled on and on. Okiya tried to push him away irritably and Conan's mouth was agape.

"Hondou-san?" he called the guy's name and Eisuke turned his head on him at once. Conan, judging from his face, was momentarily afraid that Eisuke was going to hug him instead. Which, no, he wasn't.

"Hurry up we have to take this aid to Kogoro-san!"

When the other was still processing what he had meant, he was already rushing out in the street to get to the detective agency, a place where the three almost die to get to. But he didn't go through the front door. There's a tiny space between the two-story building and the shop on the left, and Eisuke was pushing himself to get through it.

"Wait, be careful!" Conan hissed from behind him. They didn't know if the other side of the building was out of danger from zombies, but Eisuke seemed to care less about his safety.

The backside of the building was clear, in contrast to what Haibara had anticipated. Eisuke was now climbing up the dumpster to get to the railing, which they soon knew that he was heading to get to the backdoor. Smart trick.

Eisuke banged the door and it was opened almost immediately.

"Ran-san! I'm sorry I took so long but quick!" he cried and got inside. Haibara, who was climbing after Conan, wasted no time to hurry up and went to the agency like he did.

As soon as she got in, she saw Conan's stiffened body and the view in front of him couldn't be any better. Eisuke and Ran was kneeling, the latter urgently rummaging the content of the aid kit Eisuke had brought them, desperately looking for something she needed. In between them, Kogoro was sitting helplessly, a discernible deal of blood was concentrating on his clumsily bandaged right knee.

Haibara had created different versions of story of their journey to the agency, but this, somehow, didn't match up any of her prediction.

"What happened?" Conan managed.

"It was three hours ago," Ran said despite her weak and hoarse voice. "M-my dad went out because he heard a crying sound in the first floor, we thought– We thought it was Azusa-san crying," she continued as she poured some iodine to an already prepared bowl of water. "But it– It wasn't _her_. It _couldn't_ have been her. She was crying and dad went to offer her some help. That was before she attacked at my dad and injured his leg," she rambled on, tears beginning to form on the corner of her eyes. Her hands started to work on a towel Eisuke just gave him.

"Who was _she_?"

"It was one of _them_, I think. She has those big claws and fiery red eyes. I—" Ran began to tremble as she began to clean Kogoro's wound. "—I had to kill her because she didn't stop attacking my dad."

"One of them? A zombie?" Okiya wondered out loud, but neither Ran nor Eisuke gave him some sort of clear affirmation. "What kind of zombie cries?"

"Mutation," Haibara whispered. Just like the other kind of zombie who could leave unusual scratching marks on a Eisuke's ambulance when they met him.

Kogoro was moaning something incomprehensible when Ran untied the worn out bandage on his knee. He even struggled to move his hand as if trying to push her away, begging her to leave him be. But Ran was determined. She gently rested his father's hand and said something on his ear to put him on ease.

"If it's true, does that mean…?" Okiya said just for the two idle teenagers in the room. His expression clearly showed that he feared the worst.

"No. No, it can't be like that, right?" Conan spoke albeit sounded very unsure. "Right, Haibara? We can still fix him."

The girl only observed the scene in front of her eyes, keeping it to herself. Kogoro might have been attacked by another mutated zombie that had made the bleeding cut on his leg. The virus of the green flu — the mother of the hell they're living — was spread by blood. There was high possibility that the virus had started its coma period, which could explain the pale feature of the injured man and the degradation of the control over his body. Soon enough, he would be unconscious and the transformation would be almost complete. It was until he woke up again to be something they won't recognize.

"Haibara," Conan prompted her again, expectant of what she had to say. Even Okiya was silent now. Eisuke almost drop the alcohol on the floor while Ran had just done wiping the dried blood clean. They were going to try to stitch the wound, which wouldn't stop the virus from turning the old man into…

"We can fix it. The virus hasn't complete yet," she said. "I don't know for certain, but there is still, however low, a chance to undo the process. We can fix it."

"Okay," Okiya decided, and that's pretty much a sign for her to just do it.

"Ran-san, if I may," Haibara approached the other girl and kneeled beside her, inspecting the wound for a bit and showed her the pill. "Kogoro-san needs to drink this. Can you help him?"

"Wh-what's that?"

"It's, um. It could make him feel better after zombie-related attack, but it only works if he drinks it immediately," she explained.

Ran darted a questioning look to the other two guests, but what did she expect anyway? She obeyed the girl and softly persuaded her father to take the pill. The old man didn't have power to resist.

They sat there for the whole minute, watching as Kogoro starting to breathe more normally now. The muscles and nerves seemed to be relaxed, and he was able to pull out a word.

"Ran," he stopped because his senses were finally catching up with him. "It– It _hurts_…"

The daughter, and everyone else actually, took that as a good news.

"I know. I'm going to stitch it, okay? It might sting a little but you have to hold it for a bit longer, okay?" she let out a smile. She received the sterilized thread and needle from Eisuke, which soon were taken away by the younger girl.

"Please, let me. This is not my first time, I promise," Haibara told her. "Look, my hands don't even shake."

Ran didn't need to ask the others now. She just nodded and let Haibara do the job she was expert in. Well, besides inventing magnificent formulas and locating the brainstem inside a zombie's head to put a bullet through.

The strawberry blonde girl was jabbing her first hole when she heard Okiya called for the boys. He was asking whether there was something in this former detective agency they could use as a radio. Eisuke informed him that Kogoro _did_ have such equipment — a ham radio — but he wasn't sure how that thing worked.

Okiya told him that ham radio was fine. Excellent, even. And he was asking where it was. Conan was gone with the two when they were going to the other room to fetch it.

Well, it's about time the God took their side.

From where she was, she could see Ran finally let out the tears streaming down her cheek. She knew it was mostly the grief being lifted away.

**.**

**.**

**To be continued**

**.**

* * *

><p><strong>The zombies are taken out from <strong>"Left 4 Dead"**, a teamwork-based FPS game created by Valve. This game is basically the reason why I first fell in love with zombie apocalypse world (which I never thought I would). If you're interested, the opening intro of the game can be found in this youtube link.**

/watch?v=UF1HVlcXBmA

_(add youtube and dot and com before the slash)_

**A sequel of the game, "Left 4 Dead 2", contains more kinds of mutated zombies (or so-called _special infected_, rather than ordinary zombie or _common infected_) and offers more experience in the game of zombie survival. Hence, more solid teamwork is required.**

**I'm just gonna go working on the next part. Comments or reviews would be much appreciated :D**


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